


Flowers of Ink

by MayBeBrilliant



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Flower Shop & Tattoo Parlor, Awkwardness, Bisexual Lance Hunter, Bisexual Leo Fitz, Boys In Love, F/F, Fluff, Gen, M/M, Mama May and her Ducklings, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:48:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28157109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayBeBrilliant/pseuds/MayBeBrilliant
Summary: Fitz's best friend Daisy is overseas, so he takes over her work in a flower shop for a few weeks. While he's working there, a new tatoo parlor opens across the road. With a very attractive owner...
Relationships: Leo Fitz & Melinda May, Leo Fitz & Skye | Daisy Johnson, Leo Fitz/Lance Hunter, minor Jemma Simmons & Skye | Daisy Johnson
Comments: 10
Kudos: 14
Collections: Agents of SHIELD Secret Santa 2020





	Flowers of Ink

**Author's Note:**

  * For [JaeRianL](https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaeRianL/gifts).



> Dani, 
> 
> Firstly, Merry Christmas! I hope your day is absolutely fantastic.
> 
> When I saw you were my secret santa, I was so excited. Not only at the chance to write your fantastic prompts, (because really, flower shop & tattoo parlor? And Fitzhunter? Absolutely perfect!) but also because you've been such a great friend and an absolute ray of sunshine these past few weeks. So, really, a happy coincidence! I hope you enjoy it💙💙💙
> 
> Beta'd by the lifesaver @daisylincs ilyyyyy

* * *

Fitz arrived for his first day of work at The Floral Reef with a grin on his face and a box of chocolates in his hands. Granted, a flower shop wasn't the first place he would've chosen to spend his holiday, but the _reason_ he was…

His best friend, Daisy, usually worked the shop along with her mom, May. (Fitz teased her endlessly because she was called _Daisy_ , for heaven's sake, and she worked in a _flower shop._ Daisy wasn’t amused by this.) But that was beside the point. She’d won a ticket for a romantic getaway for two to Morocco, so she and her girlfriend were leaving for a couple of weeks.

Fitz had agreed to watch the shop along with May for the two weeks they'd be gone. Daisy and Jemma were way too cute together to begrudge them this holiday. Besides, they needed it. They’d been working themselves to the bone, trying to win this thing. They really deserved it.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, Fitz strolled into the shop and set down his backpack. “Mrs May? I’m here!” he called Daisy's mom.

The woman came out of the back of the shop, her customary scowl softening at the sight of Fitz. “Fitz, I’m so glad you could make it. I know it was a bit short notice, but I’m sure Daisy told you she had to leave this morning.”

“No problem, I hope she and Jemma enjoy it. Here, these are for you.” he handed over the chocolates.

May gave him one of her rare smiles, looking up from the box. “Dark chocolate and orange? You really do know me well.”

Grinning back, Fitz gave her a quick, one-armed hug. “So, where do I start?”

“Here, we have some old stuff from yesterday that needs clearing out. If you could do that, I’ll set out the new bouquets.” May pointed him in the direction of the flowers that needed moving, starting on some displays herself.

They worked side by side in companionable silence for a few minutes, clearing out old flowers and arranging new ones. Fitz had almost filled a bag with scraps of plastic and wrapping. When he finished, he took it outside to the bin. Not really watching where he was going, he bumped into a man going the other way.

, Pardon, didn’t see you there,” the man said apologetically.Fitz startled at the British accent. Not something you heard every day in a small street in NYC. He looked up at the man he’d bumped into, almost falling over his feet as he tried to continue walking at the same time. The guy wasn’t exceptionally tall, with just a few inches on Fitz. His brown hair was casually rumpled, eyes bright. He had a tattoo on his bicep, some kind of dragon maybe? With leaves? Not that Fitz was looking, of course.

“Oh, uh, hi. I mean, sorry.” Fitz awkwardly got out of the way. It was then that he realised he was still holding a trash bag. He looked down at it in horror, walking away as fast as he could without actually running.

Arriving back at the shop, he smoothed his shirt and chided himself for his panicked expression. May looked at him strangely, but he glanced away and carried on working.

Five minutes later, he cracked.

"Uh, Mrs May? Who was that man that just walked past? I haven't seen him around here before." Fitz tried to sound casual and disinterested.

May obviously wasn't buying it, smirking a little as she asked, "So you're interested in every stranger that walks past? Or is it just this particular one?"

Choking on the sip of water he'd just swallowed, Fitz blushed a brilliant shade of red, coughing. "No, of course I'm not interested in him, I was wondering what he did! Because, uh, I, well, you see-" he stammered.

May took pity on him, relenting. "I've seen him around here quite a lot recently. He's the owner of the new tattoo shop, a Touch of Ink. Why did you want to know again?”

“No reason.” Fitz muttered, still blushing.

May just stared flatly at him.

\---

The next day, Fitz was at the shop half an hour earlier than usual. This was for no specific reason, he told himself. It certainly wasn’t because the tattoo shop opened earlier, he’d just gotten the time wrong. The time that he’d written down and memorised.

Yeah, _right_.

Fitz groaned, laughing a bit at himself. He was being ridiculous. He should just go talk to the guy!

But no, he was pretty sure he’d mess it up again...

Suddenly he had a much, much better idea. He should talk to May! She’d know what to do. Satisfied, he got out his key and went into The Floral Reef.

May was already there, fussing about at a particularly beautiful bouquet of yellow roses.

“Hi Mrs May!” he said, putting down his keys on the counter. “I was, uh, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something?”

May stopped tugging at the flower stems, turning to face Fitz. Ah, here it was. She’d known he would talk to her sooner or later, he always did. She lifted an eyebrow, silently waiting for him to start.

"That man who owns the tattoo shop, we saw him yesterday? I, um, want to go congratulate him for opening the shop." Fitz admitted, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

May crossed her arms. "That all?"

Fitz dropped his arm. "Well, no," he admitted, sighing. "I want to get to know him, maybe take him out for coffee? But I screwed up when he just _walked past_ me, what am I supposed to do if I have to _talk_ to him?"

Gently, May put her hands on Fitz's shoulders. "Fitz. Look at me. I've known you since you and Daisy met in primary school, you’ve never made _that_ much of an idiot of yourself. You’re charming, sweet, and frankly adorable. Just go over there and be yourself, OK?”

“I’m not adorable!” He crossed his arms, scowling, but he was grinning despite himself, too. “ But thank you.”

\---

Ten minutes later, Fitz stood nervously outside the tattoo shop’s doors. He took a deep breath and raised his fist, about to knock, when -

The same man he’d run into the day before came out, flashing him a smile. “Hi there. Are you here for a new design?”

Fitz caught himself, unfreezing long enough to reply to the man. “Uh no, actually I just wanted to congratulate you on opening the shop. I work next door, at The Floral Reef. I’m Fitz. It's my last name, my first one is too hideous to be allowed in this world.”

The man looked pleasantly surprised and amused. “Well, thank you! It’s quite a big adjustment from the last place. I’m Hunter, by the way. Same with my godawful first name.” he said, holding out his hand.

Fitz shook it, small sparks igniting at the contact. _Hunter_. It suited the man.

The man looked at his watch. “Actually, I can come in an hour or so late today, I’m sure my co-workers will manage. Would you like to go get a coffee, tell me how a Scot like yourself came to live here?”

Fitz looked over to where May stood in the door of the flower shop. She gave him a small smirk and a thumbs-up. “Sure, I’d love to.”

The man, Hunter, grinned. “Let me just go get my van.”

He came back a minute later with the oldest, rustiest van Fitz had ever seen. He instantly adored it.

Hunter caught Fitz’s stare, patting the old truck on the dash. “She may not be the most beautiful ride, but she’s seen me through just about everything.”

Fitz grinned, climbing in the passenger’s seat. “I love it.”

“So where were you thinking of getting coffee?” asked Hunter, looking over at Fitz.

“I hadn’t actually thought of that,” Fitz admitted awkwardly. “Do, uh, do you know a good place?”

“The best,” Hunter replied with a wink. “Just wait until we get there.”

They pulled up at a small cafe, only about five minutes’ drive from the shops. Both men got out, walking across the short strip of gravel to the cafe’s door.

As soon as they entered, the delicious, mouth-watering smell of freshly ground coffee hit them. Fitz sighed in pleasure, closing his eyes and inhaling deeply.

Laughing, Hunter tapped Fitz’s shoulder to get his attention. “Let’s get a table and order, yeah? Then you can sniff away to your heart’s content.” His brown eyes sparkled as he teased the other man.

Fitz rolled his eyes, but nonetheless followed Hunter to a table by the window. “What are you having?” he asked as soon as they were seated.

“Caramel mocha.” Hunter answered immediately.

Fitz blinked. That was a lot of sugar. But whatever, Hunter had obviously been here before. He must be a regular.

Shaking himself out of his musings, he called to a waitress, jotting down their orders. Once the girl had left, he turned back to Hunter.

“So, when did you open up the shop?” he asked.

“Brand new, opened about two weeks ago,” Hunter replied, resting his hands on the smooth wood of the table in front of them and tapping slightly, a nervous habit that Fitz found oddly adorable “It’s been my dream for a while, I’m just glad I finally did it.” He smiled a little wistfully, then gave himself a little shake and glanced over at Fitz. “And how about you? Flowers your thing?”

Fitz snorted. “Not exactly. My best friend is on holiday for a couple of weeks with her girlfriend, I’m just helping her mom doing odd jobs here and there.”

“That sounds amazing for your friend. You must know her well, to be willing to take over her job for a bit?” Hunter leaned forward on his elbows.

“Oh, yes, I’ve known her since preschool. We met on the first day there, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. We work at the same company, Daisy just helps afternoons at the flower shop to assist her mom, who runs it.”

“That’s bloody amazing! You stayed friends for so long, I’m impressed.” Hunter remarked, looking genuinely impressed.

Fitz smiled a bit as he thought about his almost-sister. “Well yes, you’d understand why if you knew her. Daisy is amazing, she’s been my partner in crime for as long as I can remember.”

“You’re lucky to have people like that in your life,” Hunter said quietly.

A brief flash of anger passed over Fitz’s face like a cloud. “I really am. Not everyone has been that way. It was really lucky that I met Daisy and Mrs May when I did.”He sat back, accepting his cappuccino when the waitress brought it.

Hunter nodded understandingly. “I know how that feels. My dad never really cared about me or my mother. Left when I was eight. It screwed me up back then, but I’ve come to a better place here in New York, I think.”

“My dad as well. It really does something to you.” Fitz agreed, taking a sip of his coffee. He felt a new kind of understanding, almost a connection with this man. Somebody who _understood_ what it was like to have a father that didn't care, could hardly tolerate you.

“But enough of that.” Hunter seemed to shake himself out of whatever strange mood had been lying over them. “This Daisy, have the two of you gotten into trouble often?” The teasing glint was back in his eyes.

Fitz was relieved, back on safer ground. “A lot. Once when we were in high school, there was this asshole, Ward. I hated him from the beginning, but Daisy quite liked him."

Pausing for a sip of coffee, Fitz continued with his story. " To cut a long story short, he wanted to go out with Daisy, but he was a total arsehole. I was so mad at him for hurting Daisy."

Hunter lifted an eyebrow, smirking slightly. "So? What did you do?"

"Well, firstly we wrote him an email supposedly from the girl he liked that week. Daisy’s a brilliant hacker, so we had no problem there. Anyway, we told him to meet this girl at the bleachers. She's our friend Bobbi, she was also in on the prank.” Fitz was already grinning, thinking about it. “He fell for it hook, line and sinker. Went to the bleachers at exactly the right time, so our plan worked perfectly.”

“Well don’t keep me in suspense!” Hunter protested, slapping his arm lightly.

Fitz’s breath caught at the contact, but he did his best to hide it behind the playful story. It was, after all, a _really_ good excuse. “Alright, fine. So what we did was this. What he didn't know, but we obviously did, was that we'd rigged one of the school cameras so that it would see exactly what was going on. Then we told Bobbi to ask him how many people he'd kissed or gone out with in the last few months." Pausing once more to sip at his drink, Fitz shook his head, disgusted at Ward.

Wincing, Hunter said, "This isn't going to end well, is it?"

"Not exactly. His answer was, and I quote, 'What does it matter? The others are worthless. I'm here with you now, baby.' Luckily, or unluckily for him I suppose, we got the whole thing on video. We then wrote quite a scathing email attached to it, and sent it to all his little followers. Needless to say, they were not exactly thrilled."

Hunter sat back, impressed. "Blimey, remind me never to mess with you or Daisy!"

"Ha, thanks. Well, the teachers found out of course. Professor Hand, the headmistress, called us into her office. We thought we were going to get expelled for sure."

Gulping down the last of his drink, Hunter asked interestedly, "But you didn't?"

Fitz shook his head. "No, but it was really close. Luckily for us Hand hated Ward almost as much as we did, so she only gave us detention for about three months."

"Lucky."

"Very," Fitz agreed with a slight shudder as he remembered Hand’s stern glare over her glasses.

Still, she had been a good sport in the end.

The two men fell into silence, finishing their drinks. Fitz checked the time, looking up at Hunter apologetically. "I have to go, Mrs May will be wanting me back soon."

Hunter nodded. "I'll drive you."

Fitz thanked him with a grateful smile.

\---

When they got back to The Floral Reef, Fitz reluctantly got out of the rusty old truck. He fidgeted nervously with his sleeve for a moment, then took a deep breath and asked, "This was really nice. Do you maybe, uh, want to do it again next week?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Hunter replied, grinning.

Fitz felt himself relax, starting to smile in relief. "At lunch maybe?"

Hunter agreed, his smile doing strange things to Fitz’s heart. "Sounds perfect, see you then."

Fitz waved as Hunter went back to his own shop, then turned with a huge smile on his face. He'd done it! He hadn't screwed up, _and_ Hunter had agreed to see him again next week. Life was great!

As soon as he got back into the shop, May came walking up. At the sight of his dazed grin, she allowed herself a small smirk. "I take it your date went well?"

Fitz snapped out of his stupor, immediately blushing. "What? No! I mean yes, it did go well. Perfect, actually. But it wasn't a date!"

"Whatever you say Fitz, whatever you say." May got to work again with a smile.

\---

Their coffee 'date' the next week went just as well as the previous one. And the one after that, and the one after _that_. It was routine now, and the best part of the week. Hunter was just so easy to talk to, Fitz mused. He was smart, and had a dry, sarcastic sense of humour that had Fitz laughing out loud on quite a few occasions. More than that, he felt that Hunter understood him, in a way that not many other people did.

So was it really that strange that his feelings for Hunter had recently taken a slightly less, well, platonic turn?

He was so perfectly imperfect. His eyes, like deep pools of melted chocolate, that sparkled when he teased Fitz and got tiny creases in the corners. How his gorgeously tousled hair always managed to fall messily, even if he combed it. The dimples in his cheeks when he laughed, the sound of it carefree and musical. His lean muscle, strong arms, hands that he waved around emphatically to illustrate his points. That tattoo on his bicep that Fitz loved to stare at, a design of two intertwined stems of leaves that he'd mistaken for a dragon the first time they'd met. Infinitely kissable lips always quirked upwards when Fitz was around. His cutting sarcasm and dry wit, hiding his messy past. How he was always affecting boredom but ready, at a moment's notice, to stand up for himself and others. The pride he had for his country, and his soft heart that he kept hidden until you knew him. His sympathy, never pushing or probing, just understanding.

Fitz groaned at his thoughts. He had to do something about this crush of his. It was making him lose his mind, daydreaming about Hunter whenever he had time. And when he didn't.

It drove Mrs May insane, to the point where she had taken Fitz by the shoulders and basically ordered him to ask Hunter out.

And… Fitz was just about ready to take her advice, honestly.

Well, he had to do _something_ , and making himself miserable was a stupid solution. _I mean, what's the worst that could happen?_ he thought to himself. Hunter could say no, he supposed. And then their friendship would be ruined, and everything would be awkward between them… No! It was better to think about what could happen if he said yes.

Fitz went to their next coffee date with a hopeful feeling in his chest, and a fair few butterflies.

Hunter seemed slightly nervous himself. _Could_ he know what Fitz wanted to ask him? No, it wasn't possible, right? He must be stressing about something else, probably his sick great-aunt Sally he'd mentioned last week.

Fitz fidgeted anxiously with his food through the whole meal. They'd taken to having muffins with their weekly coffee, trying out a new flavour each time. This week was poppy seed and lemon, which Hunter had taken a great liking to.

(But that was beside the point.)

He was here today to ask Hunter out. Trying to ignore the new sure of nerves that thinking this statement had caused, he took a deep breath.

"Hey, can I ask-"

"Could I talk to you about-"

Both men asked at the same time, looking at each other, amused.

"You go first," Hunter said firmly.

Scraping up his courage and forcing himself to stop his nervous fiddling, Fitz got up and started talking. He felt this was too important to be sitting.

"We've known each other for what, two months now? I know that isn't very long, but I know you better than most other people, and you know me. You're the most amazing, incredible person, and you understand me better than even my own best friend. It's just so easy to be around you, I want- I want more reasons to see you. I want you to be mine, and I want to be yours. So, I'm asking, will you be my boyfriend?" he exhaled, getting that all off his chest.

Hunter blinked, for once in his life speechless. When he got over the initial shock, he started grinning, his smile almost splitting his face in two.

He stood up along with Fitz. "Bloody hell. I mean, yes. Yes! I'd love to be your terrible boyfriend, in fact there's nothing I'd like more. The weirdest part about all this is that I was planning to ask _you_ out today," he exclaimed, earning confused or amused looks from the other people in the cafe.

"What. The. _Hell!_ " Fitz breathed incredulously. "You were planning to ask _me_ out?! So of course you said yes, oh my _god." H_ e started beaming as much as Hunter.

Then his smile dropped as he processed the other part of Hunter's statement. "Why would you be a terrible boyfriend though? You're amazing, you should know that."

All the other diners were watching the show intently at this point.

Hunter rolled his eyes. "You should know by now that I'm messed up. I have a shitty past, that's difficult to deal with. I have weird feelings as well, you'd have to-"

But Fitz didn't let him carry on. Slotting his mouth against the other man's, he slipped his arms around his waist. Hunter froze for a second, then softened in Fitz's arms, running a hand through his unruly curls and leaning into the kiss.

Everything else faded away, the perfection of this first kiss taking over. It was all soft lips and caressing hands, closed eyes shutting out the world. Both were thinking finally, _finally_.

They'd been dancing around each other for the past couple of weeks, not admitting they were flirting as much as they were drinking coffee. All the regulars had become extremely invested in their relationship, secretly hoping they'd get together. Now their time and bets were finally paying off.

The two men lost themselves in the moment, not realising all the eyes on them. They wouldn't have cared anyway. After a while, neither of them could say how long, Fitz pulled back. He slowly opened his eyes, not quite believing that this was happening.

"Holy shit," he whispered.

"Holy shit indeed." Hunter agreed, slightly breathless. He rested his forehead against Fitz's, a radiant smile on his face.

Then the first person started clapping. All the rest joined in, shouting compliments and exchanging money.

The duo realised the clapping was for _them_ , for their relationship. Fitz blushed at the attention, the tips of his ears scarlet. Hunter, on the other hand, ate it up, bowing and blowing kisses.

Laughing at his boyfriend's antics, (he was his _boyfriend!_ ) Fitz pulled him in for another kiss, sighing in pure happiness as his lips met Hunter's.

This was how he wanted to spend the rest of his life, as happy as he was in this moment. This was how it was supposed to be.

\---

When the two of them got back to The Floral Reef, May gave them one look and smirked. "Alright, when, how, and where?" she said without preamble.

"What? What do you mean? Nothing happened…" faltering under May's fond glare, Fitz admitted, "Alright, yes. I asked him out!"

Taking Hunter's hand, he gave him a lovestruck grin.

Hunter returned the smile with a teasing glint in his eyes. "Wait, hold on, love, I asked you out!"

Fitz gasped dramatically, unable to keep the amusement from his face. "No you didn't! You only _thought_ about it, _I_ was the one that did the actual asking."

May broke in before the two of them could bicker any more. "OK, this is adorable, but I still don't know how it happened."

She folded her arms, sending a glare in Hunter's direction.

He told her the story, with Fitz chipping in now and then. May's glare softened into a proud smile as the two finished their narrative.

Surprising all three of them, she stepped up and enveloped Fitz in a fierce hug. "I'm proud of you", she whispered, voice slightly wobbly. (Hunter tactfully ignored the small sniffle he heard.)

When May pulled away, she was her usual self again. "This is such a cliché, but I really can't believe how big you've gotten. I can remember you and Daisy covering the living room in finger paint as if it was yesterday," she added dryly.

Fitz smiled gently at her. "Yeah, it's been quite a while. Thank you, Mrs May. It's thanks to you that I actually asked this idiot out anyway."

May smirked. "It certainly is, and don't forget it."

She turned to Hunter. "A word?"

Hunter followed her to the back of the shop hesitantly, mouthing _save me_ over his shoulder to Fitz, who just rolled his eyes.

Despite Mrs May's much shorter height, Hunter found himself nervous at the older woman's famous glare. Fitz had told him she could stare daggers through the best of them, but this was a whole other level.

"I didn't like you in the beginning. Too rough, I didn't think you'd be good for Fitz." Snorting when she saw Hunter's surprised expression, she said, "Yeah, I saw the two of you making eyes at each other _months_ ago."

"But you grew on me, surprisingly. I think I might have misjudged you," she continued. "And don't get too ahead of yourself, this doesn't mean you're off the hook," she warned, seeing Hunter's smug smile. "It just means you get a chance."

Hunter shuffled his feet, self-conscious for once. "Thanks, I guess."

"You'll take care of him?" she asked, looking him straight in the eye.

"Of course." Hunter replied, not looking away.

Seemingly satisfied, May turned away and walked back out into the shop.

She stopped, casually commenting over her shoulder, "And Hunter? If you ever hurt him, I will break both of your arms. I know where you live."

Then she strolled away, leaving Hunter standing slightly shell-shocked behind her, with no small amount of admiration plain on his features.

\---

Hunter got back to Fitz, May having gone to buy herself some tea at the shop a few roads on. "She didn't kill you?" Fitz's relieved look morphed into one of confusion as Hunter grimaced.

"No, only put the fear of the gods in me. She's fucking scary, love," he complained, but he was smiling slightly, too.

"Be glad she didn't break anything. Last time the guy wasn't so lucky…" Fitz declared, straight-faced.

Hunter narrowed his eyes, staring at his boyfriend. "You're lying," he finally proclaimed.

"But are you _sure_?" Fitz asked, bursting into laughter at Hunter's slightly panicked expression. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Well. Mostly."

Then he suddenly remembered something, snapping his fingers. "I almost forgot! Daisy said to video call her if anything interesting happened. I think this qualifies, don't you?"

Hunter wiped away a fake tear. "I'm so honoured," he deadpanned.

Laughing, Fitz took out his phone, tapping to video call Daisy. She picked up on the third ring, her grinning face filling the screen. "Fitzy! What's up?"

"No hello?" Fitz teased. "Is my news more important than me?"

Off screen, where Daisy couldn't see him, Hunter silently grinned and shot Fitz a subtle thumbs-up.

"Oh of course, you should know this by now," Daisy laughed. She cupped her chin in her hands, giving him a cheeky, impatient grin."So come on, don't keep me in suspense!"

Fitz pretended to think about it. "Hmmm, how about you guess first?"

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Fine. Did my mom kill someone at the dojo? Ooh, or did that idiot Garret finally get his ass kicked? Oh no wait, I've got it, you've adopted another dog! Is that it?"

"Wow wow wow, slow down! No, it's none of those." Fitz said. "You're not even close."

"Seriously? Enough with this waiting, _Leo_ , tell me what happened!" Daisy smugly delivered her punchline.

"Oh, low blow there, Dais, low blow." Motioning at Hunter to _shut up_ , he turned back to Daisy, who was trying to see around Fitz.

"Who's in the room with you?" she asked, craning her neck.

"That's part of the news." Fitz smirked.

Daisy's eyes widened comically. "No. No way. There's no _way_ you got a boyfriend when I wasn't there. Damnit!" She almost dropped the phone in her excitement. "Well, am I right?? Show me!! And I want _all_ the details."

Fitz looked over his shoulder at Hunter, beckoning him to come closer to the screen. "This is Hunter."

"Well hello there, love, I've heard quite the story about you,” Hunter said smoothly, adding with a slight smirk, “If you take at all after your mother, it's definitely a pleasure to meet you."

Daisy looked approvingly at Fitz. "I like this one!"

Rolling his eyes, Fitz looked at Hunter fondly. "So do I." He gave the other man a quick kiss, savouring the moment.

They were interrupted by Daisy's loud _awwww._ "Jem, come and look at these two adorable boys!" she hollered.

A minute later, she was joined on the screen by her girlfriend, Jemma.

"Fitzy got a boyfriend!" Daisy exclaimed, grinning up at the other girl.

"Really? It's about time!" Jemma smiled at Fitz. "Well done, he looks like quite the catch."

"Hey, no funny business!" Fitz warned teasingly.

Jemma and Daisy rolled their eyes in perfect synchronisation. "We wouldn't dream of it."

"Anyway, I'm looking forward to meeting you in person, Hunter. We’ll be back in just over a week, then how does a double date sound?" Daisy said, looking excited by the idea alredy. More serious suddenly, she added, "Look after Fitz, you hear me? And if you hurt him, I swear to god I'll break your legs." Folding her arms, she fixed Hunter with her most murderous glare - Which, considering that she’d learned it from her mother, was quite murderous.

Hunter's eyebrows shot up. "You really _do_ take after your mum, don't you? She also threatened me with bodily harm. How do you cope with both of them, love?" he asked Fitz, only half teasing.

"They're quite a handful, granted. And they can be pretty terrifying, if they gang up on a person." Fitz said, ignoring Daisy's huff. "But I wouldn't trade them for the world."

Daisy's features softened into a smile, aiming it at her best friend of almost twenty years. "Yeah, you're pretty great yourself."

Hunter clasped a hand to his chest. "What about me? You're sitting there congratulating each other on being great friends or whatever, and I'm sitting here like a piece of horse shit!" he exclaimed, causing everyone to burst into laughter.

“Alright, definitely keep him,” Jemma told Fitz once they’d all stopped laughing.

“I’m planning on it,” Fitz assured her, shooting a look at Hunter.

Daisy smirked mischievously. “Jems, what do you say, they’re just about undressing each other with their eyes. Why don’t we show them how it’s done?”

Fitz groaned out loud, “Really, you two!?”

Knowing Daisy and Jemma (and their shenanigans) more than well enough by now, Fitz ended the call immediately to the sound of the girls’ laughter. Face flaming, he turned to his boyfriend. “Ignore them, they’re just shitting with us.”

Hunter moved closer. “I don’t know, I thought it was rather a vote of confidence, didn’t you?” he said, voice low and teasing.

Fitz’s eyes flickered down to the other man’s lips, then back to his eyes. “I suppose it was.”

Their lips finally met in a slow kiss, soft and sweet. Hands brushed over cheeks and carded through hair. The late afternoon sunlight streamed in through the window, painting the room with golden stripes. Everything about the scene breathed peace, love, happiness.

This was exactly what Fitz had wanted, when he asked this amazing man out. This effortless connection, the teasing, laughing, even the crying. He wanted all of it, and he wanted to give all of himself to Hunter.

So he kissed him with all the love he felt, all the thankfulness and gratitude and amazement.

And Hunter kissed him back.


End file.
